Carcass Bride
by ZooCross0vers
Summary: Just a Two Part crossover between Zootopia x Corpse Bride! (Might go back and change this to include the rest of my holiday one shots though). Happy Halloween 2019!
1. Part 1: Not According to Plan

_**A/N: Happy Halloween everyone! Feliz Noche de Brujas a todos! Hope you eat plenty of candy and enjoy this little Halloween crossover between Zootopia x Corpse Bride!**_

_**Part 1 of 2**_

_**...**_

**Carcass Bride**

**Part 1: Not According to Plan**

She was married now…

_She was MARRIED! _But... she wasn't happy…

Earlier this morning, she thought her wedding would be happy...but that didn't turn out to be the case, because she was forced to marry someone else while her true betrothed had been snatched away from her. Snatched away...by a _Carcass Bride._

Judy Hopps, the miserable bunny bride in question, sat traumatized beside her new husband - a large, 'wealthy', and almost vicious looking brown buck with a mean face and clouded eye by the name of Lord Woundwort - who had begun making a long speech about why Judy had been so lucky to have married him.

Judy meanwhile, continued to stare out vacantly into the distance - wondering and thinking back on how all of this had happened in the first place…

.

Earlier that day…

She had sat at her vanity mirror, brushing the fur of her long ears to make herself look presentable in preparation for her wedding rehearsal. It was where she was to meet her future husband and to prepare for their wedding the following day.

Normally, she had always thought about marrying someone in the more traditional sense of meeting them, falling in love, and then marrying them. But then, the next thing she knew, her once wealthy family, had become completely broke - without a penny to their name. And everyone knew that a broke rabbit household meant that it would be beyond difficult to feed over a hundred hungry mouths. Not only that, but access to a proper education would prove to be completely impossible for the younger members of their household.

Desperate for money and worried about their family's future, Judy's parents, Stu and Bonnie Hopps, thought it best to marry off one of their daughters to the bachelor son of the wealthiest family in Zootopia (after the Hopps', of course), Nick Wilde.

Though the Wilde's had agreed to marry their son to one of the Hopps daughters, there were only two small problems with the union. One, the Hopps' weren't too keen on having one of their daughters married off to the nouveau riche. Seeing how the Hopps' had been wealthy for generations, the Wilde's were newly rich, and therefore common. This wouldn't have been much of an issue however, had the Wilde's been rabbits like them, but then came the biggest issue regarding the Wildes. The Wildes were _foxes._

Naturally, the Hopps' were fearful and not at all thrilled at the idea of having one of their children betrothed to such a sly and untrustworthy species of predator. Their children weren't anymore thrilled than they were either as Judy, along with the rest of her single adult sisters, were all just as equally hesitant to marry a fox.

Despite her fears and insecurities over the arrangement however, it was the brave and big hearted Judy who stepped forth to accept marrying the Wilde's son.

As she combed through her ears, giving herself the final touches to her appearance, she only hoped and prayed that she would come to like her future husband, even if he was a fox. She sat there for a moment longer when one of her tall ears stood one end. _What's that? _She thought as

she heard a gentle little piano melody playing from downstairs.

She wasn't supposed to leave her room without one of her brothers chaperoning her, but that was the last of her concerns at the moment. Truth be told, who it was that was playing was a bigger concern to her. She had a few brothers who loved to play the piano, but those that did were all married and had left the Hopps household sometime ago. She had a few other brothers still at home who played, but none by their own volition. They all hated playing and it wasn't time for one of their lessons. So who was it that was currently playing?

Judy left her room and wandered into her home's main hall where the piano was located. She was pleasantly surprised to see that at the piano sat, whom she could only assume to be her fiancée, Nick Wilde.

From what Judy could see at the top of the stairway, the fox was tall (for rabbit standards anyway), slender, had a black tipped tail, and wore a charcoal gray suit. Judy placed a paw at her chest, touched by the music. She couldn't believe her eyes and ears. All this time, her parents had made her believe that foxes were no good, uncultured brutes, and yet here was this fox playing a lovely piano melody with the same artistic grace as a professional pianist.

The speechless bunny walked down the stairs and curiously approached him, her arms at her back. She stood beside him, but he had yet to see her. He was so focused in his playing with those handsome emerald eyes of his. _Handsome…_

It was so odd, that that was the first word Judy could think of to describe him once she saw his face.

He continued playing without a care in the world until he moved his gaze in her direction and finally saw her. "Oh!" he pulled back, knocking down the piano bench back with his tail and nearly causing a decorative miniature vase and flower to fall from the piano. The fox quickly made a grab for it, ceasing the vase's spinning and setting it back in place. He looked to her, embarrassed, and with his paws still around the tiny vase. "Uh...hehe, sorry about that."

"Maybe I should be apologizing for startling you," Judy said with a good-natured giggle.

"You didn't startle me," he defended, trying but failing at hiding his evident embarrassment. Judy glanced down to the knocked over bench. Nick's gaze followed hers. "Oh, here let me get that," he lifted it back up and began dusting it off, "Sorry about that. I guess it was kind of rude of me to just randomly start playing the piano."

Judy's eyes widened and she smiled, amazed and happy to hear how well mannered he was. "That's okay. I was actually enjoying hearing you play."

"You heard all that?" he asked curiously.

Judy nodded and answered honestly, "You play beautifully."

Nick gazed into her bright amethyst eyes and suddenly felt his cheeks burn red, "Thanks, it's kind of a hobby of mine," he said with a bashful rub to the back of his neck. He then cleared his throat, adjusting his ascot, "Uh...say listen Miss Carrots?"

"What did you call me?" she asked with a cocked brow.

"I-I mean Miss Hopps!" he replied, trying to correct himself, "Sorry, sorry. I saw a bunch of carrots on my way in and their bright orange color really stood out to me, so I've kind of just had carrots in the mind. Didn't know you guys grew so many, but then again you are rabbits so..." he chuckled nervously as Judy crossed arms, affronted. "I..._probably_ shouldn't have said that. That was probably rude right?"

"A little," Judy replied a bit annoyed.

Nick sighed, deflating and unable to put up a confident facade in front of the pretty bunny. Normally, he'd have no problem hiding his fears and insecurities in front of other mammals, but he just simply couldn't with her. There was something about her piercing eyes that made him weak in the knees. It felt as if she was somehow able to see right through him. God did he hope that she was the Hopps daughter that was supposed to be his bride.

"Look, Miss Hopps," he spoke sincerely, "I know that I'm not at all the _ideal_ candidate for either you or your sisters when it comes to...you know."

"Marriage?" she finished the sentence for him.

"Right, marriage," he fiddled with his ascot, clearing his throat, "And-I guess what I'm trying to say is-I know that you're a fox and I'm a rabbit-No wait, ugh!"

Judy giggled, finding his shyness adorable.

Nick smirked at her, "And you're laughing. Good to know one of us is having an easier time at this than I am."

"I'm sorry," she giggled once more.

"Bet you can tell I'm no good at this sort of thing, huh?"

"Mm, maybe a little," she teased.

Nick chuckled at her joke, "Wonder how my bride's going to react when I make a fool of myself in front of her."

"I think you already did," she replied with a cheeky grin.

Nick's eyes widened in surprise, "So you-You mean _you're_ Judith Laverne Hopps?" he said with an all too pleased smile. She nodded in delight and Nick sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness."

Judy giggled with a bashful smile. "Goodness Mr. Wilde, I didn't know that you'd be so eager to marry a bunny."

"Yeah well, you're the first one in your family so far who hasn't looked at me like she wants to run through a wall because she's so terrified of me."

Judy frowned and her ears drooped at his statement. It shamed her to admit that she too had been hesitant about their union because she was so terrified of him being a fox rather than taking the time to get to know him and realize that he's just a mammal, like everyone else. And so far, a very sweet and funny one at that.

Judy placed an understanding and apologetic paw at his arm, "I'm so sorry if either I or my family have made you and your family feel uncomfortable. I guess the only ones around here that were falling for their stereotype was us. Dumb bunnies, right?"

Nick smirked and shook his head. "I guess we've all just been a little dumb, jumping to conclusions before actually getting to know each other. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have my own reservations about all this. Especially after we first came in, one of your brothers was sharpening a stake, which I'm more than certain was meant for me given the evil eye he was giving me. I was terrified he might've been your chaperone in introducing me to you, Miss Hopps."

"Knowing my father, he might've made Samuel my chaperone," Nick's eyes widened in fear at her words. Judy giggled reassuringly, "Don't worry, you wouldn't be a special case. My father has had Samuel chaperone basically all of my sisters."

"That's a relief," Nick replied.

"I guess it's a good thing I didn't wait for him and just came down here to listen to you play."

"Oh?" he smiled confidently.

Judy took a seat at the piano bench, hovering her fingers over the piano keys. "I've always wanted to learn how to play the piano, but I was never allowed to."

"Why not?" he asked with genuine concern.

"Music is considered improper for does. My mother always used to say that it was too passionate an instrument and we shouldn't feed the stereotype that we rabbits are good at multiplying by playing it." Nick frowned, feeling for her, "I remember that I used to secretly try to play it when they weren't home, but I could never get a good melody out of it."

Nick sat beside her, "Would you like me to teach you how, Miss Hopps?"

Judy cupped her paws with an eager smile, "Could you?!"

"Of course. May I?" he hovered his paws over hers. She nodded in response, allowing him to place his paws over hers. He gently rested his larger paws over hers. The second their paws touched, they couldn't help but look into each other's eyes and blush.

"Uh…" Nick cleared his throat and continued with his lesson. Judy quickly shifted her gaze to her paws, allowing him to guide her. "Let's start with something simple." He guided her paws and fingers to play the first couple of keys from the song he was playing earlier. "Now you try on your own."

He released her paws as she carefully repeated what he had just taught her. She smiled eagerly with a hop in her seat.

Nick chuckled, finding her behavior to be absolutely cute, "Alright, now try this." He played the next part, his paws over hers once again. And just like the first time, she repeated the notes when it was her turn to play alone.

They continued like this until Nick had practically taught her the whole song. "Alright Miss Hopps, let's see if you can repeat the whole thing in one go this time around."

"Okay," she paused for a moment before pressing the keys, "Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Seeing how none of my brothers or parents are here, could you please call me Judy instead?" she asked with a comforting smile. One which made Nick's heart melt for her.

"Okay then, _Judy_. Though I could call you Carrots too if you'd like," he teased at his own goof up from earlier.

"Har, har," Judy 'laughed', not minding the name anymore. She played on her own, carefully attempting to recreate the song in its entirety. So far, she had been hitting every note to a tee. "I'm doing it!" she squeaked with joy. "I'm playing the piano!"

Nick chuckled as he watched her with pride and admiration. She almost reached the song's ending without a hitch, but then she accidentally played a wrong note. Her ears immediately flopped in embarrassment.

Nick couldn't help at laugh at how adorable she looked. "It's okay Judy. No need to be embarrassed. You've proven to be a fast learner. You'll get it in time."

"But I was doing so well. I accidentally thought that this was the right key to press, but I guess it wasn't." She scanned her eyes over the keys again. "Which one was it again?"

"This one," he pointed out, ""Remember, it goes," he hummed the notes as he guided her paw once more over the keys, "And then you finish strong right…" he gently pressed his paw over hers and kept it there. Judy turned to him as he turned to her as well. He felt his heart flutter as she stared at him, "...here," he said slowly, his brain struggling to keep up with him as he was caught in her gaze.

It was Judy who slowly ended the quiet moment once she very hesitantly removed her paw from under his. An evident blush decorated her face. She looked away bashfully and cleared her throat, "You know, since I was a child, I dreamt of my wedding day. It was just this silly little fantasy that I used to have-that I'd meet a young buck and we'd fall deeply in love and then we'd spend the rest of our lives together. I guess, in hindsight it's kind of dumb now isn't it?" she asked him shyly.

"Yeah, I guess it is kind of dumb," he chuckled, "No! I-I mean, not that's not dumb at all. I completely get what you're saying. I also had different expectations for my future," he said with a casual lean on his elbow toward the little vase, "But I think I'm actually pretty okay with how things turned ou-" he accidentally knocked the little vase over with his elbow.

Judy gasped, quickly reaching out for the little flower, while Nick picked up the vase. "I'm sorry," he sincerely apologized. Judy didn't seem to mind, she simply brought the flower to her nose and smelled it. She then handed it to him with a sweet smile and he took it just as sweetly. Both of them knowing without any more words that their union, though not exactly what either of them had envisioned in their youths, would prove to be just as happy, if not better than what they had imagined.

…

_**A/N: What? That's it? No, there's more to this story, hurray! This is just Part 1 of this 2 parter story. I'll try to post the rest of it tonight, but since it **_**is** _**Halloween and in case I'm unable to post the rest today, the next part will be up tomorrow Nov 1. Just in time for all those boys and ghouls who aren't quite ready to move on from Halloween just yet. ;)**_

_**By the way, in case you're wondering who Woundwort is, he's an evil rabbit from a movie/Netflix series called Watership Down. Check it out if you haven't it's good. Though I do suggest check out the Netflix one if you're not good with violence. Now there, you bwill believe that bunnies can INDEED go Savage! O.O**_

_**P.S. I know a lot of people really like Emily (I do too), but I also really love Victoria. She's so sweet and worked really hard to get back to Victor, so I thought it would be nice to see a little more from her perspective (through Judy though, of course)! ;)**_

_**Happy Halloween everyone! :D**_


	2. Part 2: The Carcass Bride and Her Groom

_**A/N: Hey everyone, sorry about the delay. I meant to post this up last night, but since it was pretty late already I decided to wait until today. So a bit later than expected, but I hope you enjoy this conclusion nonetheless. :)**_

**...**

**Part 2: The Carcass Bride and Her Groom**

If Judy hadn't been paralyzed with shock, she would've surely been crying with confusion and anger. How did things go south this quickly? She had surprisingly found the perfect mate for her in the male she was originally assigned to marry, but now…

Things had gone according to plan for her parents and family because she had still married someone who would provide her family with the money they needed to survive. In that sense she was happy to help out for their sake, but why did she still feel so broken?

Sure, it wasn't a guarantee that she'd end up falling in love with her original fiancée, but the fact of the matter was that she _did_. She fell in love with Nick Wilde. She was willing to go to the farthest ends of the earth to find him after he had ran away embarrassed of his constant fumbling during their wedding rehearsal. What hurt even more was that she was aware that he too loved her. He had told her so when he had come back to her - out of breath and petrified beyond belief. He looked as if he had seen a ghost just before he regained his color and told her with all sincerity that he wished to be with her always and wanted to marry her more than anything.

But then...she realized why he had looked so terrified moments before. He had been taken from her. By a vixen... and not just by a vixen, but by a dead one! A literal walking _carcass!_ And she dragged him away from her just as he had confessed his love for her. Her Nick. _Her _fox. He was in trouble and she couldn't help him. She tried so hard but failed him. And now...now she had been forced to marry someone new. Someone who showed her no interest or concern.

Her parents had at the very least thrown her some concerned glances - noticing her evident sadness. But her husband? This Lord Woundwort. He hadn't even looked at her, much less had he taken the time to ask her what's wrong. He just continued on with his speech.

"Elegant, cultured, _radiant. _Judith has found a husband with all of these qualities and _more,_" said the large rabbit, his voice heavy with arrogance, "Serendipity brought us together and no force on earth can tear us apart."

Just then, as if he had tempted fate itself, a green flame suddenly surged from the fireplace. All of the rabbits in the room gasped in fear, wondering what was happening. It wasn't long until some bluish looking animals started to slowly appear behind all of Judy's guests and family. And then there was the sudden plop of an eye in Judy's father's soup. "There's an eye in my soup."

"Aaah!" screamed one of Judy's aunts in horror as things quickly turned chaotic in a flash! Everywhere they looked, there was a skeleton or some other decaying blue carcass of an animal causing panic. It was as the town crier simply put it, "THE DEAD WALK THE EARTH!"

The dead soon ran out of Judy's house chasing out her relatives and guests, all except her husband Lord Woundwort, who merely snorted at at any carcass that tried coming near him. Though they were dead, they seemed genuinely terrified of the savage looking rabbit.

Not long after, everyone was gone, save for Judy and Lord Woundwort. "Right," he said, practically unfazed by the previous chaos, "We're going to take whatever money we can and get out of here."

"Money?" Judy uttered as the word finally took her out of her depressive trance. "What money?" she asked again with a confused brow.

"Your dowry. It's my right!" barked the hare sized rabbit.

"My parents don't have any money. It's my marriage to _you_ that will save them from the poorhouse."

Though the dead didn't frighten Lord Woundwort, Judy's words certainly did. "T-The poorhouse?!" he stammered in anger, "You're lying! It isn't true! Tell me that you're lying!" he shouted as he harshly shook her by her arms.

"Did things not go according to your plan Lord Woundwort," Judy asked, almost mockingly. Though she didn't know why he had chosen to marry her initially, she had a feeling that it wasn't for anything good and it seemed that she was absolutely right. She shoved him away from her, forcing him to release her, "Well, perhaps in disappointment, we are perfectly matched." She marched out of the room in a huff.

The gray bunny made it out the door when she realized that the dead were still everywhere outside. The only difference now was that nobody seemed to be afraid of them anymore. They were all surprisingly walking side by side with them and they all appeared to be heading to the local church nearby with a giant wedding cake in tow. _Where are they all going?_ Judy thought, as she followed behind them.

Pastor Bogo, a hulking cape buffalo and the church's pastor, stood outside before the church's entrance in his pajamas. He waved his arms menacingly toward the dead, "Back you demons! You shall not enter! Get back! Back! Back!"

The dead mammals merely glanced awkwardly at one another until a dead wolf spoke to the buffalo, "Keep it down, we're in a church."

The dead mammals ignored the buffalo and walked in as Pastor Bogo merely stood there, completely stunned over the whole scene.

Not long after, the wedding march began to play all throughout the church.

At the altar, stood Nick as he turned to greet his marching bride. Skye, the vixen carcass bride, marched down the aisle while two small, skeletal otter pups decorated her path with flower petals. Her blue face was full of bliss as her sapphire colored eyes stared up blissfully at her awaiting groom. Nick watched her with a smile. She was beautiful. Even for a dead vixen with a completely skeletal arm and leg, she was still quite lovely. Though she wasn't his ideal bride, nor the girl he truly loved, he still liked her. If he had to marry someone else beside his beloved Judy, it would be her. She was mature, kind, caring, and strangely enough, still full of life despite being dead.

Besides, what did he have to lose at this point? The girl he loved...or at least thought he loved had betrayed him…

She had betrayed him for someone else…

_How could she?_ It was all he could think when one of his family's servants, a chubby cheetah who had recently been ill named Clawhauser, had suddenly died and informed him of Judy's new engagement. He had told him that she had married that vicious looking rabbit that suddenly arrived to their wedding rehearsal. Was it that? Did she choose him instead, because he was one of her own kind?

Did that explain why it was he chose Skye too, despite the price being losing his own life in order to make their marriage binding? Did he really prefer a vixen over a doe, just like Judy very likely preferred a buck over him? Did Judy actually choose this buck? Or was she forced to?

It hurt him to think that she did, but he couldn't say. All he knew was that he didn't prefer a vixen. He loved Judy despite her being a rabbit. But now that she was snatched away from him, what more was there to lose? Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to die, if it meant making his marriage official with a girl who really did love him.

At this point, there was no turning back. He would numb his remaining feelings for Judy and promise to love Skye with all his unbeating heart.

Skye finally made it to the altar, her smile never faltering. Finally! She would be the bride she was originally meant to be, but this time, it would be with a kind and sweet mammal. Not with the murdering monster that snatched her dreams away from her and killed her on what was to be the happiest day of her life.

Nick was a handsome, kind, sweet, and loving mammal, and she knew that she would at last find her peace and happiness with him.

He offered her his paw with a warm smile and she took it, standing beside him at the altar.

Elder Otterton, a middle aged skeleton who was once an otter, stood before them to officially marry the two in death. He was referred to as 'Elder Otterton', due to him having died over three hundred years ago. In that regard, he was one of the oldest and wisest members of the land of the dead. It was he too who had informed the carcass bride Skye, that her marriage to Nick never existed because he was alive and she was dead. Therefore, death had already parted them.

Though now, they would correct that by having Nick drink from the 'Wine of Ages', a poison that would forever cease his heart and allow him to join Skye in marriage and in death.

Once the wedding march ended, Elder Otterton began the ceremony, "Dearly beloved, and departed. We are gathered here today to join this fox and this carcass in marriage."

Unbeknownst to anyone, another bride had at last made her way toward the church. Judy stood at the church's entrance when her jaw dropped in shock. "Nick?" she gasped with a breaking heart. A cheetah skeleton that sat in the back shushed her after her surprised remark.

Another deflating gasp escaped Judy's mouth. _No...this can't be happening…_ she thought as she quietly made her way around one side of the row of seats to a pillar that stood to the side of the altar. She watched from behind Nick's back. She was so paralyzed with sadness, that all she could do was watch as the love of her life was being married to the vixen carcass right in front of her.

"Living first," continued the skeletal otter, instructing him to recite his vows.

"With this paw," Nick began as he raised his right paw, "I will lift your sorrows," he lifted the cup where the poison he was to consume would go into. "Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine."

"Now you," instructed elder Otterton to Skye.

Skye took a moment to stare deeply into Nick's eyes as he smiled at her. She was so appreciative of the sacrifice he was making for her. "With this paw," she began, not wanting to waste a second longer. "I will lift your sorrows," she lifted the red bottle carrying the poison that was to kill her groom, "Your cup will never empty," she looked to him again as Nick gave her a reassuring smile to let her know that he was ready to meet his fate. Skye gave him a small nod and began pouring the poison into his cup as she continued to recite her vows, "For I will be…"

Her gaze wandered as she caught a glimpse of someone in the background. Skye gasped when she realized that it was Judy - the 'other' female - as Skye had once jealously called her before Nick explained to her that Judy was his actual fiancee.

Judy gasped quietly as well when she saw that she had been spotted.

"I will be…" Skye repeated, struggling to keep focused as she glanced back and forth between Nick and the clearly heartbroken Judy.

"Go on my dear," encouraged Elder Otterton, completely oblivious to the vixen's hesitance.

"Your _cup_ will never empty," Skye repeated, forcing herself to continue and taking another glance at Judy. "F-For I will be…"

Seeing that she was unable to continue, Nick finished the line for her, "I will be your wine." Nick brought the poisoned cup toward his lips until Skye suddenly placed a skeletal paw over the cup, preventing Nick from drinking out of it. Nick turned to her, completely confused as their guests muttered in equal confusion.

"She's having second thoughts," they heard one of their dead guests mutter to his living wife.

Judy's jaw gaped in awe, surprised at the dead bride's sudden hesitance.

"I can't," said the vixen with a breaking voice.

"What's wrong?" asked Nick with concern as he turned to glance back, noticing that something behind him was bothering her. Before he could see however, Skye placed a paw at his cheek, bringing his full attention back to her.

"This is wrong," said the vixen, her voice heartbroken yet decidedly firm. "I _was_ a bride. My dreams were taken from me. And now...now I've stolen them from someone else," she wept with sincerity, "I love you Nick, but you're not mine."

The carcass bride released his cheek and with a humble smile, drew her paw forward, asking the bunny bride to step forth. Nick followed the direction of the vixen's paw and his jaw dropped when he saw why it was that she was so hesitant to continue. "Judy!" Nick said, his still beating heart skipping a beat at the sight of her.

Judy made her way toward the two foxes, her gaze low at first in a mix between guilt and shame until she reached the vixen's welcoming paw. Skye took the bunny bride's paw and then took Nick's paw, placing it gently over the bunny's.

Skye smiled happily at them both. It was only at the sight of her reassuring smile, that two original lovers felt that it was okay. They returned the vixen an appreciative smile and then turned to one another with a loving smile towards each other.

"Oh, how touching," spoke a malevolent voice. Everyone turned to the church's entrance where Lord Woundwort stood. "I always cry at weddings," he said with a mocking sniffle.

Judy took a step back from him in disgust. In her joy at being reunited with Nick, she had completely forgotten about her previous wedding to the large vicious rabbit.

"Our young lovers together at last," Lord Woundwort said mockingly as he made his way down the aisle, "Surely now they can live happily ever after," he reached the three mammals at the altar, practically hounding over Judy, "But you forget…" He violently grabbed Judy by an arm and pulled her away from Nick and Skye, "She still my wife! And I will _not_ leave here empty pawed!"

Judy struggled in the rabbit's grasp until Skye spoke, garnering everyone's attention. "_You!_" she said, as if suddenly recognizing the vicious brown rabbit.

The savage-looking rabbit's own eyes widened as well, suddenly recognizing the vixen too. "Skye?"

That gave the vixen her answer. "_YOU!_" she hissed furiously.

"But...I left you," said the rabbit.

"For dead," said the vixen, finishing his sentence. The crowd gasped in shock. Skye had just come face to face with her former betrothed and _murderer_. Their wedding guests began to growl angrily at the large rabbit.

"Stay back!" hissed the rabbit at the guests as they began surrounding him. The hare sized rabbit took a large sword out of a short skeleton fennec fox's stomach. He brought it under Judy's neck and sunk his claws into her arm.

"Aah!" Judy gasped in pain as the rabbit tightened his grip on her to ensure that she wouldn't struggle.

"Sorry to cut things short, but we must be on our way," said the rabbit with a wicked smirk.

"Take your paws off her!" Nick growled at the brown rabbit with bared teeth.

The psychotic rabbit smirked at him and pressed the tip of the sword toward Nick's stomach, "Do I have to kill you too?"

With Judy now free from harm's way, Finnick, the small skeleton fox, bit Lord Woundwort's rear, forcing him to release Judy. Judy free herself and ran away from Lord Woundwort, standing beside Skye as she held her arm in pain.

"Nick! Catch!" yelled an old armadillo with glasses as she tossed Nick a weapon to defend himself. Little did she know that she had tossed him a two pronged fork.

"Really?" Nick spat in disbelief when he realized that it was just a fork.

"Sorry," responded the dead armadillo.

Beggars can't be choosers however as the rabbit charged at Nick with the sword. Though it wasn't at all an ideal weapon, Nick made due with the fork, blocking Lord Woundwort's attack. Nick mostly dodged and blocked with his fork, getting in only a couple of pokes at Woundwort. One at his already injured rear and another at his foot when he had forced Nick to take cover beneath one of the church's pews.

"Aah!" Lord Woundwort growled in pain as he fell back, knocking down the nearby pews like dominoes. Judy and Skye stepped back as the pews fell in their direction.

Nick jumped back on his feet when Lord Woundwort did the same, popping out from beneath the pews. With an almost savage-like growl, he slapped the fork away from Nick's paw with the sword and then he violently slashed at Nick's stomach with his own claws, forcing the fox down on his tail.

"Nick!" Judy cried as she tried to run to his side, but Skye held her back.

Nick hissed in pain and clenched at his stomach. Lord Woundwort hounded over him and pointed the blade right at Nick's face. The hefty rabbit smirked with an evil sneer, "Look at you, pathetic. You call yourself a predator when a prey animal can easily knock you down? You lack the viciousness your kind should have. If I were you, I would've put those claws and teeth to good use and tear my enemies limb from limb."

"Well, lucky me I guess that you're not a predator," Nick quipped sarcastically.

"Maybe not, but I can kill just as well. After all," he turned to Skye with a sadistic grin, "You wouldn't be the first fox I've killed." Lord Woundwort pulled the blade back, ready to stab Nick right through his skull. He launched his arm forward with a growl.

"No!" Judy ran to him, only for Skye to push her back as the sound of a blade meeting flesh rang in everyone's ears. Nick, Judy, along with all of the wedding guests gasped, when they all saw that it was Skye who had taken the blade in Nick's stead.

Skye removed the blade from her stomach and pointed it at Lord Woundwort.

Lord Woundwort scoffed, "Touche my dear."

"Get out," Skye growled, having had enough of the rabbit.

"Nick," Judy ran to Nick's side.

"Carrots," he stood and protectively placed an arm in front of her, keeping her safely hidden behind him and away from the psychotic rabbit.

Skye meanwhile kept the sword aimed at Lord Woundwort. The large rabbit laughed mockingly as he circled around her and headed toward the altar. "You're going to kill me now?" Skye gave him no answer, she merely kept the blade aimed at him with every step he took, "Very well then, I'll leave," he stopped at the altar and raised up the wedding cup that Nick had held earlier. "But first, a toast! To Skye! Always the bridesmaid, never the bride." He mocked as Skye's ears fell back in sadness and humiliation.

"Lemme at him! Lemme at him! No! Don't-Don't hold me back!" cried a little green maggot named Maggot, who was Skye's friend and local resident who lived behind one of her eyes. He was so appalled by Lord Woundwort's words, as were the rest of the dead who desperately wanted to kill the cruel rabbit but were held back by Elder Otterton. "Wait!" he cried, "We must abide by their rules. We are amongst the living."

Lord Woundwort chuckled and then turned back to Skye, "Tell me my dear, can a heart still break once it's stopped beating?" He chugged the wine from the cup with one full gulp. He smacked his lips together and tossed the cup to the side. "How about...we find out!" he said as he charged toward Skye with a paw up, ready to strike at Skye's chest with his sharp claws. Skye blocked with her arms, only for Lord Woundwort to suddenly stop in his tracks a second later. "Agh!" he choked, reaching for his throat and fell to his knees. He began to gasp and gag desperately as he moved his paws down to his chest, clutching at his heart.

Maggot smirked, thinking back on Elder Otterton's previous words, "Not anymore," he said with a sing-songy tone. When Lord Woundwort looked up, his face and fur were all blue now - he was dead.

"Yup, you're right. He's all yours," said Elder Otterton, letting the dead drag a now terrified and very dead Lord Woundwort back to the land of the dead with them - to do whatever wicked thing they wished to do to him.

The armadillo cook from before, shut the door that led to the land of the dead, but not before eerily stating, "New arrival."

Elder Otterton stayed behind for a moment and covered the 'Wine of Ages'. It would no longer serve its actual use as Skye relented Nick to allow him to return to his true intended, Judy - who was also now free from her own marriage as Lord Woundwort was now dead.

Judy rested her head and a paw against Nick's chest, "Oh Nick, I never thought I would see you again."

Skye smiled happily at them, but with a sadness still carried in her heart. She headed toward the door where the rest of the dead had left through.

Nick watched her go, saddened. Though he knew his place was really with Judy, he felt that he still owed her one. "Wait, I made a promise," he said as he walked toward her.

Skye smiled and shook her head, "You kept your promise. You set me free," she removed the wedding ring he had placed on her finger and placed it in his paw. She wrapped his paw around it. "Now I can do the same for you." The vixen then looked back to Judy, "Take care of him will you? He's a good guy."

Judy smiled at her with a nod. Skye continued back toward the door when Judy called to her, "Wait, where will you go?" she asked, concerned for the selfless vixen.

"I guess, wherever death takes me," she shrugged, "Congratulations you two. You make a lovely pair." Nick and Judy held paws and nodded appreciatively at the vixen. Elder Otterton then came by the carcass bride's side. She took his arm and gave the happy couple one final glance before she crossed the threshold back to the land of the dead.

Nick sighed as Skye forever disappeared as the door shut behind her and Elder Otterton. Though they weren't meant for each other, he knew that she would always carry a special place in his heart as a dear friend.

He looked down toward Judy who looked as if she wanted to cry. "Hey," he spoke gently to her, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied wiping at her forming tears, "It's just...were you happy with her?" she asked meekly.

"What?"

"I mean, did I ruin your wedding? You both seemed happy until...I came along. And...And I just..." Judy's eyes looked like they wanted to fill with tears again.

"Hey, don't say that," Nick cooed gently to her, cupping her cheeks in his paws.

"But…" she sniffled, "I want you to be happy and I don't want to be the reason that you're not."

He couldn't help but smile at her sweet words, "Listen to me Carrots," he looked her in the eyes and spoke sincerely, "I won't lie to you and say that I didn't care for her. I did like her, but...I think that even she knew that _you're _the one I truly love Judy." Judy watched him, reading the sincerity in his eyes. "I felt so broken when I heard that you had gotten married to someone else. More so when I heard that it was a rabbit that you had married. I-I thought that you didn't want me because I was a fox and…"

Judy gripped his wrists, "How could you think that? I could never willingly replace you with anyone else. I don't care that you're a fox." His eyes shone as she lovingly caressed a paw at his cheek, "I love you Nick."

He smiled wide, his heart fluttering with joy. He rubbed his thumbs against the fur of her cheeks, "I love you too, Judy." Judy moved her face forward, attempting to kiss him, but he put a paw at her lips, "Wait, before we do, there's something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you properly the first time around." Judy raised a brow in confusion, until Nick lifted his right paw and confidently began to speak, "With this paw, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty for I will be your wine." Judy gave him a giddy smile, "With this candle," he pointed at his paw, "Just pretend there's a candle there," he quipped as Judy giggled, "I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you, Judith Laverne Hopps," he gently slipped the ring on Judy's middle finger and took her paw in both of his, "To be mine. Forever and always."

Judy couldn't contain her tears any longer as she jumped up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I do! Forever and always too." Without another word, they kissed. Two very different mammals who were only meant to marry for financial gain, but instead found love in one another as they were at last reunited once more.

Though they were happy, there was one question that remained unanswered: What had happened to the carcass bride that had accidentally torn them apart, but then selflessly brought them back together again?

.

Back in the Land of the Dead…

Skye sat on a small set of stairs looking up at the sky. Her friend, Maggot crawled up to her and noticed her just staring up at nothing, "What are you looking at?"

"Back in the world of the living, the moon would be right up there," she pointed to the sky.

The little green maggot grimaced sadly at her with a shake of his head. "I don't know why you gave up that boy to that bunny." He climbed aboard her arm up to her ear.

"I didn't give him up," she replied. "I accidentally stole him from someone else and I just set him free."

"Call it what you will," scoffed the maggot, "I still think you're just making yourself _blind_ to the truth," he said as he popped out of her eye socket and forced her eyeball out of it.

"Hey!" she barked, "How often are you going to do that, you nasty little worm!"

"Until you come to your senses," he replied, "You're just going to let what that horrible rabbit said about you be true? That you'll always be a bridesmaid?"

Skye huffed sadly, "That doesn't matter now Maggot. I'll always be a carcass bride on the outside, and maybe I'll never be the bride I was meant to be in any other regard. But I've made my peace with that, so quit bugging me with your cynical opinion." She looked around her, "Great, where'd my eye go?" she walked a little further down the street she was on and spotted an eyeball on the ground. "Oh, there it is."

She picked it up and put it back on, though there was something off about it. "What the?" she said as she could swear that she was seeing two different things - one of which was a profile view of herself. She looked to her side and saw a blue striped hare in a tuxedo looking at her with one pale blue eye and a sapphire one. Skye removed the eye she picked up just as he removed the sapphire eye from his own socket. They blinked with their one remaining eye and looked down at the extra eye in their paws. She held a pale blue one which matched his remaining one, just as he held a sapphire one which matched her remaining eye.

"Oh, sorry," they both said simultaneously with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Here, allow me to," The hare exhaled on Skye's eyeball and gently cleaned it against the lapel of his tuxedo. "My apologies. I didn't mean to take your eye by mistake," he said politely.

"That's okay," she said as she too took a moment to clean his eye with the skirt of her dress. "I'm sorry I took yours. You have a nice eye color," she said.

"Thank you," he replied with a smile as he took his eye back and handed her hers. "You have a very lovely eye. Er, eyes. They're as bright as real sapphires."

"Thank you," she said with what may have been a blush at her cheeks had she still been alive. She placed her eye back at her socket. With it back in its rightful place, she was able to see that he was quite handsome. Not to mention, he was also very well dressed. "That's a very nice suit you're wearing. I like that flower at your pocket," she complimented.

He placed his eye back and looked down at his suit, "Oh, thank you. It was my wedding suit."

"You're wedding suit?" she asked with a curious brow, "You mean you died on your wedding day?"

"Yes. I'm afraid I did," he replied with a hint of sadness.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said the vixen, sympathetically.

"Don't be. In certain ways, it may have been for the better."

"Why's that?" she asked curiously.

"Well, at least this way I'm no longer married to my now ex wife. She's the one who murdered me you see."

"Your wife?" the vixen asked in shock. "That's awful!"

"Yes," his tall striped ears fell back, "And what hurt the most was that I actually thought I loved her and...I thought she really loved me as well. She looked so innocent and sweet with those large glasses and her beautiful wool." He sighed in disappointment, "Not long after our reception however, she asked me where I kept my stocks and bonds and after I answered her, she poisoned my glass of wine."

"So you became a carcass groom?" she asked the obvious.

"Yes," he said patting down his tuxedo. He then looked up at her, "And you? I see you're a carcass bride."

"Yeah. I guess I picked the wrong mate too and basically went through everything you did."

"That's truly horrible to hear. You seem like a sweet girl and you're very beautiful. I can't see why anyone would want to harm you," he said with a polite smile.

Skye giggled shyly, "Well, I guess I could ask you the same thing. Why would someone want to harm such a polite and handsome gentlemammal such as yourself?"

The hare shrugged bashfully, "I suppose we're two parts of the same romantically deceived coin."

"I guess we are," she agreed. "What's your name by the way? I don't think I've ever seen you around here before."

"Oh, that's because I died in a town called Bunnyburrow, just outside of Zootopia. But I couldn't stand wandering around there any longer, knowing that that sheep was living off my wealth and lying to my family about my death. So I opted to leave instead."

"That's terrible," she sympathized, "But don't worry, she'll be caught soon. Life, or I should say death always catches up with scum like the in the worst ways." She smirked proudly with a cross of her arms, "I should know, the rabbit who murdered me died recently and, let's just say that even in death he can't rest in peace." She winked.

"Really?" he asked amazed, while Skye nodded proudly. "Well then, perhaps justice will eventually find its way in my case. Last I heard, my family was starting to grow suspicious of her, so perhaps there is a chance my death will no longer remain a mystery to them."

"It won't," she gave him a confident smirk.

The hare smiled in turn and offered her his paw in greeting, "Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Jack Savage, and you are...?"

"Skye," she replied, offering her paw to him.

"It's an honor to meet you," he gently took her paw and placed a soft kiss on it. He then looked up to her eyes with a smile. "I look forward to getting to know you better during my stay here, Miss Skye."

"Likewise, Jack," she returned his warm smile.

They continued to hold paws, neither of them ready to let go of the other anytime soon.

Caught in one another's gaze, neither noticed their respective maggots pop out of their respective ears. Maggot peeked out from Skye's ear and locked eyes with a pink female maggot sticking out from Jack's ear. The two stared at one another for a moment, until the female maggot batted her eyes at Maggot who shook his eyebrows at her with a flirty growl. And she in turn gave him a sultry growl.

As it were, it appeared that both Maggot and Lord Woundwort were wrong about Skye, for she was one carcass bride who had long last found her carcass groom. And this time, it would be a union that not even death would ever be able to part.

The End

…

_**A/N: Went with a different ending. She deserved a happy ending too, darn it! Lol! xD**_

_**Apologies once again for not having the full thing ready by Halloween, but I hope you enjoyed this abridged fic of Corpse Bride. Maybe for Christmas I'll have something else done on time. Until then, hope you guys had a great Halloween, Dia de Los Muertos, and just have an overall good day! :D**_


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